Aurora, Illinois-Beloit, Wisconsin tornado of March 1, 2024
Meteorological Sypnosis ''' On February 31, a Day 2 Moderate risk of severe weather was issued for Central Illinois. On March 1, the outlook was upgraded to a High Risk for North-Central Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, and Northwest Indiana. An incredibly rare, 60% hatched area of tornadoes was included in Northern Illinois. At 1700 PM UTC, PDS Tornado Watch 199 was issued for Southern Wisconsin, Notheast Illinois, a small portion of Northwest Indiana, and extreme Southwest Michigan. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch was also included for vast surrounding areas as far as Iowa City, Iowa. A line of Severe Thunderstorms and a few Supercells was located in South-Central Illinois. Hail and extremely high Straight-Line-Winds had already caused enough destruction when the storms moved into Joliet, Illinois and dropped a large, powerful, and extremely violent tornado near downtown Joliet. '''Tornado Track The tornado touched down Highway 6 as an EF1, moving a car into a ditch, but leaving the 3 occupants, a 34 year old man and his 9 year old twin daughters unscathed, thanks to their dog who heroically jumped in front of the children as glass was flying in every direction. The 2 year old dog was not harmed, but unnerved. The tornado intensified to an EF2 and caused major damage to the Joliet Police Department. As it exited Joliet, now a High-End EF2, it entered the town of Crest Hill, Illinois and intensified to an EF3, sweeping away a handful of unanchored homes on Oakland Avenue. The large, multiple vortex stovepipe tornado continued through the rest of Crest Hill, weakening and causing mostly EF0 damage, with some sporadic EF2-3 damage around the Northwestern edge of town. It continued Northwest toward Crystal Lawns, growing in size and intensity. It caused mid range EF4 damage in Crystal Lawns and winds here were estimated at about 175 mph. The Louis Joliet Mall took a direct hit and 43 people were injured. As the massive twister moved into Plainfield, Illinois, it weakened to an EF3 and severely scoured the ground and significantly damaged an apartment complex. It then hit the Walkers Grove Elementary School at Low-End EF3 intensity and injured one teacher who was frantically getting her students to shelter. As the tornado moved out of Plainfield, it neared Aurora and intensified to a High-end EF4. It leveled many well built brick homes just outside of town. As the tornado entered Aurora, Illinois, it intensified to an EF5 tornado and a prompt Tornado Emergency was issued for Aurora, Illinois, and Nottingham Woods, Illinois, as it was right in the tornado's path. The tornado was now a large wedge and it was destroying everything in its path. Well built, anchor-bolted homes were swept away. A total of 31 vehicles were mangled beyond recognition and another 23 were never found. Numerous large structures and subdivisions were obliterated, swept away, severely damaged, and leveled. The entire Aurora Outlet was leveled and 123 people were injured. The Bubble Queen Laundry was swept away. The Stradas Auto house was severely damaged and 6 anchored homes were lifted off of their foundations and thrown extreme distances, such as 1/6 of a mile away. The tornado then terrorized the town of Nottingham Woods, Illinois. It weakened to a High-End EF4 and actually wiped the town off of the map. Every structure in town sustained some sort of damage. The most severe damage was to a well built brick home that was violently leveled. The tornado then struck the town of Willow Creek, Illinois and re-intensified to an EF5, leveling the entire town. The Fisherman's Inn was completely demolished and 89 people were injured in this town. The Western edge of Maple Park, Illinois was demolished as the tornado maintained EF5 intensity. The most severe damage was inflicted to the Old Second National Bank ATM. The tornado swept away an entire neighborhood and moved into Cortland, Illinois and dramatically weakened to an EF1.The only severe damage was inflicted to SB's Embroidery & More. The damage here was rated High-End EF3 as the roof was ripped off of the structure and one exterior wall was demolished. The tornado then hit Sycamore, Illinois. This would be the worst damage since 1997 in Jarrel, Texas. The tornado, as some say, even swept away the whole town. Winds were at at least 300 mph and 423 people were injured. The tornado re-intensified to an EF5 once more and immedialty started to decimate the community. Whole neighborhoods on Somanauk Street were leveled. The tornado even ripped up cement on Somanauk Street, aswell. The Ideal Indistries, Inc was swept away and a large brick house was thrown into its debris cloud with its slab foundation was cracked. The tornado continued to intensify and did the most extreme damage that was ever observed in th U.S.A. since 1997. The tornado finally moved out of Sycamore after severely injuring 201 people and minorly wounding 222 others. As the tornado then clipped the edge of Five Points, Illinois, causing High-End EF2 damage to many homes and businesses on the Eastern side of town. The tornado continued on over mostly open terrain, sweeping away a farmhouse. It then hit the town of Belvidere, Illinois, growing to a mile wide. It demolished the center of town and incredible EF5 damage was especially observed on Crosby Street, where the cement was torn off of the road, a semi truck was thrown 130 yards, injuring the driver minorly, and it had a debris ball 3 times its size. It moved out of Belvidere, after injuring 98 individuals and moved through Poplar Grove, Illinois, inflicting EF3-4 damage to the western edge of town, mostly to neighborhoods and a few restaurants. The most severe damage was to the Pacemaker Foods Countryside Market. The tornado then weakened to an EF1, moving through the town of Hunter, Illinois, demolishing many barns and outbuildings. The large tornado then crossed the Illinois-Wisconsin Border. It then hit Beloit, Wisconsin, fluctuating very violently to an EF5 from an EF1. It leveled the town and injured 37 people, most injuries occurring while homes were swept away. It then began to rope out as it moved through Crestview at EF2 intensity, then finally dissipating due North of town. 'Aftermath ' This tornado was on the ground for about 130 miles, injured 727 people and caused a mind blowing $12.95 billion dollars in damages. This tornado is part of an outbreak that is my next project on this website. Category:Tornadoes Category:Violent Tornadoes Category:F5/EF5 Tornadoes Category:Catastrophic Tornadoes